'Computer networks of eastern command were compromised'

Computer networks of the Eastern Naval Command were "probably compromised" after hacking attempts in 2011 and appropriate steps have been taken since then to strengthen it, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Wednesday.

"There were intelligence reports in November, 2011 about probable compromise of computers of Eastern Naval Command based in Visakhapatnam [ Images ]," he told the Rajya Sabha.

In written reply to the House, Antony said that hacking is a constant and real threat worldwide in the cyber domain.

On steps taken to strengthen cyber system, he said, "The matter has been investigated and appropriate steps have been taken to strengthen security of network."

The defence minister was replying to a question, "Whether Chinese hackers have succeeded in hacking the sensitive network of Eastern Naval Command and stealing intelligence inputs."

In reply to a question on detection of Chinese spy vessels in territorial waters of the country recently, the minister denied any such development.

Replying to a question on construction of border roads in Uttarakhand [ Images ], Antony said, "The Tanakpur-Tawaghat road having a length of 258.60 kms has been completed to single lane specification. Out of this, 256.72 km is being improved to double lane Specification by BRO."

He further informed the House that 40 kms of road stretch is already completed and work on remaining portion is under various stages of progress, which is planned to be completed by 2019.

The delays in completion of project were caused due to delay in land acquisition and forest clearance and difficulties in availability of construction materials, he said.

Sometimes it could be agents but most of the time it is negligence and most of the time pen drive is the culprit. The other way is electronic monitoring of the computers but one needs to be within 300 to 400 metes away from the computer in line of sight with monitoring equipment.

Stand alone LAN not connected to internet is hacked by the USB ports using external attachments like external hard disks.

When those USB devices are any where connected to internet, the stored information or data is passed to host.

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What rubbish?

If a system, LAN, WAN or anything is not connected to the internet, it cannot be hacked, by external sources.

If someone connects a zip drive, an external HDD, or any external memory to any system there - information automatically does not flow to those external memory drives. What is it? Liquid?

Now, say an officer buys a pen drive, which hosts a hidden malware. He plugs the pen drive into his system at the Naval/Army/AF base and the anti-virus doesn't detect the malware. The malware, according to its code will either steal information and hid it in the pen drive, or will get itself attached to the host system (like a parasite) and try sending secret files through email. Since, the comp is not plugged into the internet, the malware will not be able to transmit files. If the malware hides secret files in the pen drive - and the officer say uses the pen drive on a system which has internet connectivity, information will flow out.

Again, mischief can be done by internal people too. Say, someone using a pen drive to take out important files. Later, he goes to a cyber cafe and emails the docs.

For information to pass from one source to another, there has to be a stream, which is provided by the internet.

If a system, LAN, WAN or anything is not connected to the internet, it cannot be hacked, by external sources.

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Da, You can connect your Lap to a unsecured LAN port in a switch, By accessing the switch in a isolated LAN you can hack into any computer say for Administrator computer where every document is kept, But one have to dispose that LAP after its use..

This kind of sabotage happens if LAN security architecture is weak, And there are many cases like that..

Da, You can connect your Lap to a unsecured LAN port in a switch, By accessing the switch in a isolated LAN you can hack into any computer say for Administrator computer where every document is kept, But one have to dispose that LAP after its use..

This kind of sabotage happens if LAN security architecture is weak, And there are many cases like that..

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Unsecured LAN with no internet access right? If that is the case, yes, you are right. This is mostly done by mole's of other spy agencies as they have to be physically present and plug the laptop in the LAN. And Kunal, even if security architecture is weak, there should be logs in the server to pinpoint the exact port, the directory and hence the subsequent files being checked/copied, and the server ID and password used to gain access.

Btw, I was actually talking about external security threats and the role of the internet in it. Seems we have more people inside harming us, than outside.

Many electronic hardware manufactured in China comes with hidden malware. The Chinese scums are good when it comes to coding new generation malwares and spywares. They pass even Enterprise and hardware level checks. One reason why Armed Forces the world over see the Chinese with suspicion and never buy hardware from a Chinese company. Most malwares are to pass off military secrets to the thief of that cuntree.

that is how most of the chinese hacks have taken place..
most of the pen drives are of chinese origin..
there is a software in the driver which when connected to a computer searches for certain key words and stores that data undetected..
The moment that pen drives gets connected to internet medium, may be even one year after, it would silently pass that data on to the host.

My dear that is what Huwai does. The first thing a Huwai router will do is get connected to a server somewhere in Beijing or Taiwan..

that is how most of the chinese hacks have taken place..
most of the pen drives are of chinese origin..
there is a software in the driver which when connected to a computer searches for certain key words and stores that data undetected..
The moment that pen drives gets connected to internet medium, may be even one year after, it would silently pass that data on to the host.

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There is nothing like a software in the driver? Rest of your post is correct.

But, Chinese are an external threat too. They continuously attack Govt. systems that are connected to the internet. This is one of the major reason, why most important government data are kept offline, in the old school kind of way.

There is nothing like a software in the driver? Rest of your post is correct.

But, Chinese are an external threat too. They continuously attack Govt. systems that are connected to the internet. This is one of the major reason, why most important government data are kept offline, in the old school kind of way.

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May be I am computer illiterate if drivers and unities are not software !
Amy Lans are not on internet.

May be I am computer illiterate if drivers and unities are not software !
Amy Lans are not on internet.

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You said - there is a software in the driver.

There is a difference. You cannot use these terms so freely. When we say driver, we generally mean a device driver, which basically communicates with hardware. They are OS and hardware specific. Say for e.g, you cannot install a Windows XP Pro sound driver in a system using Solaris.

I guess you know s/w.

My post was not to offend you, but in giving out the actual details. Btw, how do you know Army systems are not connected to the internet?

There is a difference. You cannot use these terms so freely. When we say driver, we generally mean a device driver, which basically communicates with hardware. They are OS and hardware specific. Say for e.g, you cannot install a Windows XP Pro sound driver in a system using Solaris.

I guess you know s/w.

My post was not to offend you, but in giving out the actual details. Btw, how do you know Army systems are not connected to the internet?

india have worlds greatest IT hub and all great companies are here.
but our GOI is still in amateur technology . what a shame! when all your billions of money, time, hardwork and secrets are compromised silly ways of hacking (usb ports).
and don't we have a hacking groups why can't they do the same to other countries ?

Well if US computers in Afghanistan were hacked through USB ports, then you may consider someone's imagination that worked. Pen drives were found in scrap market in Peshawar contaianing US military confidential data. What more.

By the way how does one transfers internet data on to a secure LAN? By USB... that plays the trick....